This invention is directed to a toy of the type wherein an indicator is located in a housing and moves between an indicating position and a nonindicating position. Movement of the indicator is under the control of a control means which is coupled to a plurality of operator buttons such that movement of the indicator member is seemingly randomly connected to the operator buttons.
Certain games are known where the operator of the game systematically removes or moves one or a plurality of members at a time. These games include the well-known favorite such as pick-up-sticks and the like. Further, included in this category of games would be games such as those found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,114,548 and 3,578,320. In these two patents, games are described which are in effect extensions of the pick-up-sticks type game. In these two particular patents, a housing is utilized to support the sticks and the sticks are removed one at a time until a certain function is accomplished.
Other games are known which seem to work in a seemingly random manner. Included in this category would be U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,394,353 and 4,236,346 both of which are assigned to the assignee of this application. In these patents toys are described which utilize an internal member which produces a seemingly random movement. In actuality, the seemingly random movement of the toys is in fact not a random movement but is dependent on certain cam surfaces located on drums and the like within the internal mechanisms of the toy; however, to a child using the toy the movement is a seemingly random movement.
U.S. Des. 242,815 describes a toy manufactured by the assignee of this invention know as Pop-Up-Pirate which also incorporates the seemingly random movement principle. In this toy a barrel is equipped with a plurality of unattached swords which can be inserted into the barrel through the slits. When a sword is inserted into one particular slit, whose location is seemingly random, an object located in the top of the barrel is caused to be propelled upward and away from the barrel much like a head in a jack-in-the-box or similar toy. After propelling the object out of the barrel, the object is then reintroduced into the barrel and given several turns to "seemingly" randomize which hole will next be activated by insertion of a sword and play resumes. While this toy has considerable play value, the swords which are inserted into the barrel do not form a fixed portion of the toy and therefore can be lost, misplaced or the like as is common with many chilren's toys such as both pick-up-sticks and the two pick-up-sticks type games discussed above.
It is considered that there exists a need for a toy which allows for movement of one or a plurality of buttons at a time to accomplish a feat with the exact button which can accomplish this feat being unknown to the child. Such a toy would preferredly have the buttons fixedly attached to the toy so that they do not become lost and thus render the toy useless. Further, it is considered that such a toy should incorporate a randomizing or seemingly randomizing mechanism wherein after the successful conclusion of one phase of play, the mechanism of the toy could be reset to place the activation of the toy under a different button since that the child must once again pick and choose among the plurality of buttons in order to successfully accomplish activation of the toy.